Consonants (I)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
c ~lN~~~~N~lNl~~l'lllb,lONlt ) I I English Phonetics: l Consonants (i) Whcre syrnbuls appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant. Shaded areas denote art~culationsjudged ~rnp~~~ible CONSONAN E (NOK-PULMONIC) VOWELS Frmt Central Back Example, 1.1 Airstream and Articulation Speech sounds are made by modifying an airstream. The air- stream we wjll be concerned with in this book involves the passage of air from the lungs out through the oral and nasal cavities (see Open OTHER SYMBOLS Whem >vrnbuls appear :n pain. the one figure 1).There are many points at which that stream of air can be in Vurcelesa labial-xlar fricative 6 ~iveolo-pal.llaliricat~vcs to the ngllt reprracnts a rounded vuw~.l modified, and several ways in which it can be modified (i.e. constricted W Voied labialvelarappmximiint 1 Alveolaz lateral flap q Mlrcd l.lblal-pal.llal appimanl fj ~imultaneous and X in some way). The first point at which the flow of air can be H X~icelrsscp~ghltal iticanva SUPRASEGMENTALS Afrncarci and iitiublr nrticulntio~,~ modified, as it passes from the lungs, is in the larynx (you can feel Voiced rpi~lut:alhlratrrc can be ~e~resc~t~dby two Primary stress joined by s tlr bar 11n~icssar).. the front of this, the Adam's apple, protruding slightly at the front ? Ep!g'~t!ii p!ns;\," k^p , Secondary slreri ,founa'trJan of your throat; see figure l),in which are located the vocal folds DIACRITICS Diacritics may he placed above a symbol wtha descender, e err.T? : e: . <, -d ' Hrlihmg v (or vocal cords). The vocal folds may lie open, in which case the Vu~celess IJ ,, Breathyvoi,ed b a , Ucntal td - Exba~short P airstream passes through them unimpeded. Viewed from above, the v Voiced S L Creaky voiced L_, Apiral L d ! Minor [foot) group I/ Major hntonntlon) gruup vocal folds, when they lie open, look like this: t~ rl.. Syllable break ~i.22kt More rounded _ Lmkln8 (abscnre of n break) Leas rounded i I'aiatalilcd ti dl " N~~~Irc~ense d" Advanced 11 Vclanzd t3 dk Lataralrclrase d1 TONES ANU WORD ACCENTS - I.EVEL CONTOUR _ Rehactd Pharyngesilzcd tF d' ' No audiblerelease d7 "1 l i.~bs~ugh g or A fi~i,,,: " Ccnhnlizcd e - Mlmzrd orphar)npealizcd f e l High 6 v Fallsrg Mid-ccnbalized '2 L llrtiseli = alveolu !,iratlvci e : 5 l~ld 6 I~lghnsln~ , Syllabic Lowcrrd $ =voiced bilabialapproxirrantl n (0 I. e ,I ris,ng , Nlm-syllabic , Adrdnced Tongue Root 9 8 J &,l', l<,," P q ruaing-falling l Doivnstep f Global rsc ' Rhotlcih aL aL RchactcdT~~ngu~R~o~ Open vocal folds t Upsap i Glubal i811 Figure 2 The International Phonetic Alphabet The vocal folds may be brought together so that they are closed, (revised to 1993, corrected 1996) and no air may flow through them from the lungs: xviii English Phonetics: Consonants (i) English Phonetics: Consonants (i) t a place of articulation; since the space between the vocal cords is referred to as the glottis, we will refer to sounds produced at this c place of articulation as glottal sounds. There are many other places I of articulation; we will identify a further seven. Firstly, sounds in which the airflow is modified by forming a con- striction between the lower lip and the upper lip are referred to as bilabial sounds. An example is the first sound in pit. Closed vocal folds One way in which the outgoing stream of air may be modified is by applying a certain level of constant muscular pressure sufficient to close the vocal folds along their length, but only just; the build- up of air pressure underneath this closure is sufficient, given the degree of muscular pressure, to force that closure open, but the air 'pressure then drops, and the muscular pressure causes the folds to close again. The sequence is then repeated, very rapidly, and results in what is called vocal fold vibration. You should be able to feel this vibration if you put your fingers to your larynx and produce the sound which is written as <z> in the word hazy (although you will probably also feel vibration elsewhere in your head). Sounds which A bilabial sound: the first sound in pit are produced with this vocal fold vibration are said to be voiced sounds, whereas sounds produced without such vibration are said Secondly, sounds in which there is a constriction between the lower to be voiceless. lip and the upper teeth are referred to as labio-dental sounds. An To transcribe speech sounds, phoneticians use the International example is the first sound in fit. Phonetic Alphabet (the IPA: see figure 2); the IPA symbol for the sound written <z> in hazy is [zl. You should be able to feel the pres- ence of vibration in [zl if you put your fingers to your larynx and produce [z], then [S] (as in miss), then [zl again: [zl is voiced, whereas [S] is voiceless. This distinction will constitute the first of three descriptive parameters by means of which we will describe a given consonantal speech sound: we will say, for any given conson- ant, whether it is voiced or voiceless. 1.2 Place of Articulation We will refer to the points at which the flow of air can be modified as places of articulation. We have just identified the vocal folds as A labio-dental sound: the first sound in fit English Phonetics: Consonants (i) English Phonetics: Consonants (i) Thirdly, sounds in which there is a constriction between the tip of the tongue and the upper teeth are referred to as dental sounds. An example is the first sound in thin. An alveolar sound: the first sound in sin Sounds in which there is a constriction between the blade of the tongue and the palato-alveolar (or post-alveolar) region are called A dental sound: the first sound in thin palato-alveolar sounds. An example is the first sound in ship. For the remaining places of articulation, let us distinguish between the tip, the blade of the tongue, the front of the tongue and the back of the tongue (as in figure 1).Let us also distinguish vari- ous points along the upper part of the mouth. We will identify four different areas: the alveolar ridge (the hard, bony ridge behind the teeth; see figure l), the hard palate (the hard, bony part of the roof of the mouth; see figure 11, the palato-alveolar (or post-alveolar) region1 (the area in between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate), and the velurn (the soft part at the back of the roof of the mouth, also known as the soft palate; see figure 1). Sounds in which there is a constriction between the blade or tip of the tongue and the alveolar ridge are called alveolar sounds. An A palato-alveolar sound: the first sound in ship example is the first sound in sin. Sounds in which there is a constriction between the front of the tongue and the hard palate are called palatal sounds. An example is the first sound in yes (although this may be less obvious to you; we will return to this sound below). Engiish Phonetics: Consonants (i) English Phonetics: Consonants (i) any given sound we will say whether it is voiced or voiceless, and what its place of articulation is. But to distinguish between the full range of speech sounds, we will require a third descriptive para- meter: manner of articulation. To idenhfy the manner in which a sound is articulated, we will identify three different degrees of constriction (complete closure, close approximation and open approximation), and thus three different categories of consonant: stops, fricatives and appraximants. 1.3.1 Stops The articulators in question may form a stricture of complete clos- A palatal sound: the first sound in yes ure; this is what happens when one produces the first sound in pit. Here the lower and upper lips completely block the flow of air from Sounds in which there is a constriction between the back of the the lungs; that closure may then be released, as it is in pit, and may tongue and the velum are called velar sounds. An example is the then produce a sudden outflow of air. Sounds which are produced first sound in cool. with complete closure are referred to as stops (or plosives). We may describe the first sound in pit as a voiceless bilabial stop (transcribed as [p]) and we will henceforth identify all consonants with three-term labels of this sort. The consonant in abbey is also a bilabial stop, but differs from that in pit: it is voiced. This consonant (transcribed as [b]) is a voiced bilabial stop. The first sound in tin is a voiceless alveolar stop; it is transcribed as [t]. Its voiced counterpart is the consonant in ado. This sound, the voiced alveolar stop, is transcribed as [dl. The first sound in cool is a voiceless velar stop; it is transcribed as [k]. Its voiced counterpart, the voiced velar stop, is transcribed as [g]; an example is the consonant in ago. We have now identified bilabial, alveolar and velar stops; stops may be made at many other places of articulation, but we will ignore A velar sound: the first sound in cool those, as they are not relevant to the study of English. There is one l further stop which we must mention, however, as it is very com- mon in the speech of most speakers of English.